Horry County Police arrested six people for Wednesday's bomb threat at Carolina Forest High school.
Four of them are juvenile students. They were sent to the Department of Juvenile Justice and will be in court Friday morning for a detention hearing. They range in age from 14 to 16 and are charged with Conveying False Information Regarding Attempted use of a Destructive Device.
Two other 18-year-old students were taken to J. Reuben Long Detention Center. Jason William Taylor and Lorenzo Terrell Green are both charged with accessory before the fact of a felony.
Police and school officials hoped those arrests would deter future threats, but it didn't work. Thursday, Carolina Forest High School students were evacuated for the second time in two days.
"What we're dealing with these bomb threats is sheer nuisance and sheer harassment. It does come with consequences," said Teal Britton, Horry County Schools Public Information Officer.
Those consequences include disciplinary action from the school and potentially jail time, if convicted. Six Carolina Forest students now face those outcomes. Police say the students worked together to pull off the threat.
"We were able to determine that it was talked about prior to being done. There was a plan in motion. The plan got put into effect and it created an evacuation," said Sgt. Robert Kegler, Horry County Police Public Information Officer.
Since the wave of bomb threats started last December, law enforcement and school leaders have been working to stop them. In addition to lost instructional time, the threats are straining the police department's resources.
Officers have to be pulled from their normal duties to respond. Police are also concerned about their bomb sniffing dog.
"He's trained to find explosives and when he's not especially if he's going to the same school over and over again and it's always nothing, always nothing. The dog has the potential to get complacent," added Kegler.
A public service announcement is in the works and could be ready for air next week. Officials hope it will be a deterrent.
"To do some education. To let the children know, let the students know, let the parents know the repercussions of what could happen if a bomb threat is made," said Kegler.
"I think we have to develop a culture inside the school among our students to help create a message of intolerance," added Britton.
